A Belgian like Australian National CX Champs

Spring has sprung here in the southern hemisphere and it has been quite some time since the cyclocross season has ended here in Australia. I did not think I was going to do a write up about the racing back home. I thought it didn’t compare to the racing in Europe but with the National Championship weekend we had, it comes pretty close.

I had been focusing hard for this years cyclocross nationals as it was my last race in the under 23 category. Next year I move in to the elite category which I already ride basically all season in the national series (there is no U23 series category) but this was my last U23 championships so I wanted to make it a good one. My training had been going really well and with some races a few weeks before I was happy with my fitness. One week out however, I got hit with a nasty cold. I was inside all day, not riding and going through boxes of tissues each day. I was pretty gutted about this but I did everything I could to get better before the weekend to give myself the best opportunity. With my latest results my expectation for the champs was to come 5th, 4th would have been a great race for me.

Friday

We drove to Sam Miranda Winery where the race was being held and the course was showing just a snippet of what was to come. Some rain had come through and made a few muddy patches in the course but for the most part it was dry. I rode a few laps and got familiar with it to a point where I was happy with it. This was the same venue as last year’s national championships and I enjoyed the course then and this year looked no different.

Saturday

With some confusion about whether there was a U23 category for our national championships or not according to the UCI, the organisers finally decided to put us in the same race as elite but give us a separate podium and hope that they can talk the UCI into allowing the results to show separately between us (the U23) and elite men. Jump ahead in time, this did end up happening fortunately meaning we got points for our placing in under 23 not our placing within the elites. Back to the race, with many races being held before the elites at the end of the day. The course was very chopped up with all the rain that hit the course meaning it was going to be a very muddy and Belgian like race. I was more than happy with this as it meant it was more about your technical skills on the course rather than power so my sickness the week leading up to here was not as detrimental to my race. I had a good start within the elite men sneaking into 12th place or so and being about 5th out of the under 23 riders. The group quickly spread out as mistakes were made holding people up and creating gaps but fortunately I managed to avoid many of these hold-ups to keep a solid position and tempo. I found myself right behind 4th place in under 23 coming up to a long pedalling section so I decided to get in front and set a hard tempo. Unfortunately for the other rider he had a problem with his shoes so I was able to ride away from him and be pretty safe in 4th place. For a while I was racing on my own to my own tempo thinking I was riding to a 4th place which I would have been very happy with but coming past the pits one lap my dad yelled out to me saying I was in 3rd place (and he also yelled for me to keep riding hard of course).

Coming on to the finishing straight after riding through a deep mud pool with hidden roots and ruts. Photo: Andy Rodgers (@fameandspear)

I was very confused as I knew exactly who was in front of me in my race and there were 3 of them. However, not long after that I looked to see one of my competitors was walking his bike off-track, he had pulled out of the race. This gave me a new pair of legs and I kicked it up a gear to make sure no one could make a comeback behind me. After one hour and fifteen minutes I had finally crossed the finish line in 3rd place, my best national championships result and my first podium as well.

Andy Rodgers (@fameandspear) captured my feeling perfectly right after crossing the finish line

This result had put the icing on the cake of my best and most consistent season of cyclocross. I could not have asked for a better way to finish my last year as an under 23. Shortly after the race, the adrenaline and excitement had worn off and I was very cold and very wet so it was time to hose down quickly and get dry as I needed to be ready for podium presentations (a first for me).

A second national title in a row for Ben Walkerden (middle), a redemption ride into 2nd place for Will Ockenden (left) and a very satisfied third for me (right)

Since the race was held at a winery it was only fitting that the podium presentation was capped off with some fine prosecco. Although, not much of it was actually used for drinking.

The spraying seemed like a good fun idea until we were all freezing wet covered in prosecco. I also learned that I like the taste of prosecco as well

With the nationals weekend over there was only one week left of the cyclocross season finishing off with two UCI races at Broadford raceway. The UCI races turned out to be just as muddy as the nationals were meaning there was a lot of cleaning going on in the last two weeks of the season.

My final season as an under 23 was done and it was one that I can be very happy with. I had come so close to cracking the top 10 in Elite Men and was consistent throughout the season. Capped off with a 3rd place at nationals just makes me even more eager to start the next season again. But for now it is time for some road and mountain bike racing during the summer.

3 Days of Cyclocross World Championships

Being my second time at the cyclocross world championships I knew what to expect and I was also expecting more from myself. To summarise how last year went, many of the best riders in the world said it was one of the hardest courses ever in 10 years. My race last year felt about the same, incredible hard and not very good personally. This year, I was hungry for a good ride, not a good result necessarily but just a good ride personally.

The mud of last year’s cyclocross world championships proved to be too much for me.

Friday

Today was the first day we would see the course. The course was open on Thursday, but we didn’t feel the need to go 4 days in a row when we could get enough of a look of the course on Friday. We left late this day for the 2-4pm training time so it was a relaxed morning for the Aussie team. Turning up to the course, one thing became clear quickly, it was going to be a very cold race. Bogense is a small town located on the north coast of a small part of Denmark so there is no protection from the wind. With a combination of this harsh wind and the cold temperature, it was not going to be toasty. The Aussie team rugged up in lots of layers to go ride a few laps of the course. Due to the low temperatures, the ground was actually really hard and frozen which made the course rough with every bump and the corners were incredible slippery and took some serious care to get around without losing grip. Either way we got around and all commented on how fast we thought the course would be. There were only a few technical sections that were nothing to be afraid of compared to other races like Namur, and there were many long straights to unleash some power and gain some speed. We finished our practice (doing about 5 or 6 laps) and got cleaned up and drove home. Being the day before a race for the Under 23 riders (Nick and I) we had the standard spaghetti bolognaise for dinner.

Saturday

An early morning for us as we needed to be out at the course and ready to do some final course practice at 9:30am. A quick breakfast and a sleepy goodbye from Chris and Tia (who woke up just to see us depart) and we were off to THE race. No surprises, it was still cold and windy. One nice change we found was on the course. After yesterday’s icy and bumpy ride, it seemed that the ground had warmed up and softened as the corners had more grip (not much though, it was still muddy) and the straights weren’t as bumpy. This was a welcome change for me as now I was more comfortable with the course and there was no section where I was really nervous. My excitement levels were rising to an extreme high. I put my headphones on, played my playlist and warmed up to get in the best mindset possible to ride my best race.

Getting a bit hot and sweaty while warming up for the race, better to be overheating than freezing at a cross race.

Twenty minutes before the start, I finish warming up, put on my helmet and other kit, bump fists with my mechanics and head for the start line. Before it is time for the call up onto the start line, everyone rides up and down the start straight to keep warm. This is when it starts to become real, both sides of the straight are covered with spectators in all sorts of outfits and bright colours, and young kids holding out their hands for high-fives. As they begin the call up I assume my position by waiting for about 5 minutes until my name gets called to line up at the back. At UCI cyclocross races, you get a 3-minute call, 2-minute call, 1-minute and 30 seconds before the start. At the 2-minute call, that is when everyone takes their zipper pants off exposing their legs to the cold as late as possible. 1-minute before the start and everyone’s jackets are coming off leaving just our skinsuits to keep us warm. Out of all the races I have done, this minute was the most cold and longest minutes I have had to endure. Shaking with nervousness and very mild hypothermia they call 30 seconds to go. This time is even worse as they play a heartbeat sound over the speakers which I have no clue what the purpose of it is other than to make the riders even more nervous. The lights go green and it is on! And I mean properly on, this start was quicker than any other I have done but quickly we reach the first corner and all the brakes lock up and everyone carefully navigates the corner without causing a crash on the first corner (this is a first for under 23 races). Our thoughts on the course being a fast one were correct. The leaders were doing laps in just under six minutes which for cyclocross is fast. Courses are usually about 7-9 minutes, seven being pretty short.

I’m not exactly sure what to say about my race but I will leave it to the end of this as I think it would be a better conclusion than me talking about how I spent Sunday. Hopefully by the time I get to the end I can think of something good to say.

Sunday

Showing the Aussies some love out on course. What we lack in numbers, we make up for in spirit.

Today was about supporting the Australian elite men Chris Aitken ad Garry Millburn. The guys arrived with plenty of time before they even needed to do course practice. So, for a while we watched the women’s under 23 race while sitting warm in a camper joking about. I met some old friends who I watched the elite race at last years world champs with. We set off to find somewhere to heckle the Australian boys and have a few beers. We were creating an atmosphere by being overly loud cheering guys on as they practiced, not even raced, but what else were we to do. With some smack talking and banter we entertained ourselves for two hours while staying in one spot to reserve our prime position on the course. The race finally started, and we waited in anticipation for them to come into sight. With the crowd’s cheers slowly getting louder we knew they were getting close and by the time they were upon us the cheers were deafening and it was pointless for ourselves to cheer as no one would hear us but that didn’t stop us. Once the top riders came past the noise died down but not for us. With Garry and Chris coming by 30-40 seconds after first place, we were yelling at the top of our lungs and losing our voice to cheer these guys on. It might not seem like spectators can do anything to make riders go faster but being a rider myself, I can tell you first hand that when you hear someone cheering you on, you get a little energy boost to just give it a bit more and it is one of the best feelings. With Mathieu riding laps in 5:30 there is not much the Australians can do to stay ahead of getting lapped by him, so they were pulled from the race three quarters of the way through. Just like that, another world championships were over.

My Race

Back to my race. I’m not going to sugar coat it and say I did great when people ask me how I did. When I get asked that, I normally avoid saying the exact result I got because it is usually never something to boast about. I got 62^nd out of 63 riders, that was my result at world champs. It doesn’t sound very good but, in my opinion,, it doesn’t have to sound good. I know I rode as hard as I possibly could, I didn’t crash or have a mechanical and I felt stronger than I had at most other races. I am just not good enough to keep up with the fastest and finish a world championship and that’s fine. Overall, I am super happy with how I went. After a disappointment last year, knowing I could do better, I came out this year and left nothing behind. 62^nd in under 23 is what that got me.

Home Stretch

After my time in Girona it was time to get back into the last 3 weeks of my European cyclocross journey. These weeks were not quite as busy as the Christmas period where every second day was a race, but they are some of the most important. Every Sunday for the next 3 weeks there was a World Cup race and then the World Championships, so these last races were big ones.

Pontchateau

First up was a round of the UCI World Cup in Pontchateau in France. Coming straight off the training week in Girona I was looking forward to seeing the effect it had. Arriving at the course it was a warm (well warm for Euro winter standards) and sunny so it was a nice welcome back to racing. It became clear pretty quickly during course practice with Garry Millburn (fellow Aussie racer and friend) that the race would be a very fast and pedalling course. With long straights, not many technical sections it was all about fitness and less bout skills. Saying that, there was still 80m of vertical climbing per lap which is heaps when you think about it. Elite men raced 11 laps meaning in 1 hour of cyclocross racing they had done about 880m of climbing. I however did not do 11 laps, I didn’t even do as many laps as the other U23 riders in my race. It was a bit of a disappointing race for me, I was not sure what was wrong but all of me was just not feeling it that day. I had to quickly move on from my disappointing race because Nick and I had to help Chris in the pits for his race (Elite men). I got changed, washed myself off and then met with Chris to begin my job of pit crew. Chris was parked far away from the course so after he had finished warming up we had a fair walk to the pits with the bike, wheels and tools. We made it with plenty of time to spare so we relaxed and chatted with some of the pit crew in the pit box next to us. The Elite men’s race started and quickly the sped past the first pits. Fortunately for us Chris is able to dismount and remount his bike on either side meaning when everyone was stacked on one side of the pits ready for a bike change, we were on the other side with a clear run. The course was pretty dry so in the end we had a pretty easy day, Chris had no mechanical issues so all we had to do was cheer him on. That was Pontchateau done meaning there were 2 more chances for me to put the Girona training to use. Next up, Hoogerheide.

During the week between Pontchateau and Hoogerheide, we drove back to Hof ter Kammen in Oudenaarde to spend the week there. The night we got there it was standard weather, cold and wet. By the next morning, looking out the window and it was just all white. It had snowed quite a bit overnight meaning that riding would be quite difficult during the week. This didn’t stop the Aussie team and I from having some fun in the snow. I hadn’t seen any snow in years so I was pretty excited.

Leaving my mark at Hof ter Kammen while also enjoying myself

Quickly though, the week was nearing its end and it was time to head for Hoogerheide. We left Hof ter Kammen but not before we took a photo with all the people staying there. Even though everyone has there own living quarters, you get to know them all pretty well and make some good friends. Meeting David and Maghalie was a highlight for me as Maghalie is Canadian and Pan-American cyclocross champion so she is pretty damn good. Also having Andrew Juliano (who we met doing the same trip last year) show up for a few days was nice. Always good to see old mates.

Some Aussies, Americans and Canadians staying in one bed and breakfast. Christian and Hilde are internationally known for their amazing hospitality.

Hoogerheide

Hoogerheide is a pretty iconic World Cup race. Being that last round of the series and the last race before World Championships the week after, it collects many racers who are preparing for the champs so the start lists are usually packed. The course is designed by Adrie van der Poel and if that name sounds familiar then you’re not living under a rock because that is he father of arguably the best cyclocross rider in the world right now, Mathieu van der Poel. Hoogerheide is local race for Mathieu and since it is designed by his father, you just know it is designed exactly for him to win. Long story short, he did not disappoint, he wont but it was not quite as convincing as many might have thought. Before that though I had my race to do. We rode the course on Saturday (the day before the race) and it was fairly dry, some rutted and muddy sections but mostly dry. This was not the case on race day. With rain overnight and rain during my race, it became a mud fest. Wet races are good fun but usually they are slower and the clean up afterwards is anything but fun. Early on in my race I found myself getting lines wrong and making small mistakes, but I managed to find my footing and by the later part of my race I was actually enjoying the ruts and mud. There was a fair bit of running each lap as the slight uphills were too muddy to ride fast (pedalling hard would get you nowhere). Once again, I was pulled from the race early as the leaders were closing in to lap me. You can’t always base how your race went by when you get pulled as all the courses are different. I was pretty happy with how I went, I felt better than the week before and considering I rarely ride in conditions as muddy is this I was happy.

The iconic Hoogerheide steps in the background of a muddy Adam and me. It will take some serious cleaning to make those skinsuits white again.

After my race I was back to helping Chris once again, but this time my job was to get video of the Elite men’s race for Chris to make a vlog out of. So, during the race I walked around places videoing Chris, and the front of the race hoping that my camera skills were up to his standards. I was expecting to see a race similar to many others, Mathieu leads from first lap and just increases his lead the entire race, but excitingly, this was not the case. Toon Aerts was riding with Mathieu and even got a gap of about 14 seconds. Mathieu who was with Wout van Aert at this time slowly dropped Wout and clawed back Toon with around 2 laps to go. From there it was classic Mathieu, ride away to solo to a victory. The better race was the race for the overall series win. Wout was in the lead but only by 3 points meaning whoever had a higher position today, won the overall. Usually it is Wout who would come out on top (being the 3x world champion) but after recent form Toon was able to take 2^nd on the day to claim the overall victory which he looked very pleased about.

If you do want to see some video of what we are up to here then I do recommend checking Chris Aitken’s youtube channel as he posts frequent short vlogs.

With Hoogerheide done and dusted, it is now time to put all focus on the World Championships in Bogense, Denmark next week. The last race on my journey. Everything will be put on the line and whether I get pulled early or finish lead lap, as long as I leave everything out there I will be happy.